Alright, last night I was just about to post my update and bam! The power goes out but luckily I had some battery power left over and saved it. Plus tonight I have to do a whole new one about my long day today which rocked so I better get started!
Here is last night's blog "The power of bartering"
Hey, this is an early post because it's only 6pm now. It's pissing rain again and the city is still struggling from yesterdays. I hit the market today and talked to Tran (just what I call the zippo guy as I forget his name) and when he got home last night his house was flooded knee deep. Mind you he lives in a one story, two room house in an alley and doesn't have a basement like we do back home. It was nice today until about 3pm when it started and luckily I made it to the market. Today I didn't have major plans and slept in which I should stop as I don't have any reason anymore to be up past midnight, even more so because by the time I was done breakfest (2pm) I only had 3 hours before all the shops closed.
I hit the new street I discovered yesterday which was good. Here in Vietnam there's shops that take a famous painting, paint a new copy and sells it for cheap. You could walk away with a nice Mona Lisa for $20 hahaha. I'm not into art and don't know a lot about it, but the artist I like the most is Roy Lictenstein, an American artist from the 1960's. Have you ever looked at an old comic book from the 60's and looked at it in great detail? You'll find the printing technology back then was just dots of different shades and close together for a strong colour, or spaced out for a faint colour. Lictenstein did this but for big pictures and I really like it since it's like comic book art. I don't think he made any comics or a full story, but his pictures capture a moment in time, one being an F-86 Sabre blowing up a MIG-15 fighter jet haha, another a girl on the phone crying, a girl drowning and refusing to call for help and there's a few others, but most are girls. If I was to buy any art it would be of his, but pieces are expensive and since this will be my only chance to get one, why the hell not? I paid $20 for it, and I was expecting them to cover the canvas and I'd ship it in a box. What they did instead is cut it off, roll it and hand it to me. I asked "Won't that make the paint crack?" and I got "No problem" back hahahahaha. I'll ship it home and get my parents to open it. If it's destroyed I'll buy another and I'll tell them how to care for it. One thing you have to watch is to hang onto your money. Once your money is in their hands, transaction over. I gave them the cash, they rolled it up and after that if it's all cracked, it's still mine. It's hard to be concious of it though as we pay first and touch what we paid for last.
I had pineapple pancakes this morning (alright, at 1:30am if you wanna get technical...) and they were good, better than mushy boiled out coconut like yesterday. I also booked a tour today for Cu Chi and Tay Ninh. I leave tomorrow at 8am (thus why I'm going to bed early), go to Tay Ninh first around 10am to the Cao Dai Temple and then hit Cu Chi, hit it till 4pm and back in Saigon for 6pm. Now, I could care less about seeing the temple haha but it's the closest I'm getting to Katum without a nightmare of logistical issues haha. Obviously I'm going to be respectful and honourable as it's a holy sight and we're going during mass. I'm going to see if I can find some dirt off the holy site (digging in holy land I know would be a disgrace haha) but I'll settle for Tay Ninh dirt as being Katum dirt. Again dirt is more than dirt to me. Back home I don't care, but in Vietnam, dirt from different parts means a lot to me as thousands of lives were taken trying to gain or defend this or that patch of dirt. Now during the American war after the enemies were dead, the US went on to the next area of enemy troops making the dirt they lost 200 troops over next to worthless. But to me, having a bit of dirt does give meaning to it, that somebody knows what happened and is willing to preserve it, to honour it and in a way the people who lived and died on it. I get that it might sound weird and I guess if you don't understand, you probably never will and I don't know how else to rephrase it.
Cu Chi is going to fucking rock and I can easily see myself spending a lot there haha. Infact if I have time at the end of my trip, I might do it again simply for pure fun and the firing range. Just to let you guys know, just typing the words "firing range" a huge grin formed on my face hahahahaha. I won't be able to spend a lot at the range, probably a few rounds on each weapon, or depending on what's in their gift shop, focus on that and not fire one round at the range. Save that for later ;)
Cu Chi is going to fucking rock, and as of right now it hasn't hit me. I know it'll rock but I'm not giddy yet. Wait till tomorrow morning haha. Cu Chi is a small village that during the war (Japanese and French, before the US) made a community bomb shelter. Big whoop right? Well Ben Cat, Ben Co and Ben Suc did too. Again nothing crazy. But as it was dangerous going overground to see your grandparents in another village they dug a tunnel from each bomb shelter to the next. That's not all. This became so big that they had a tunnel from Cambodia (at it's closest point from Ben Suc 30km) and one tunnel into Saigon (closest point Ben Co, another 30km). Alright, if you don't think that's cool the tunnels at the end of the US war stretched 250 miles and they were all dug by hand, no special engineering tools, drills or stuff like that. The everyday garden hand shovel and maybe a long handled shovel for when you knew you were connecting to another tunnel. They had thousands of people living underground in these tunnels too and because of that they built class rooms, workshops, kitchens, hospitals, movie theatres, weapon rooms, anything they needed to survive. Now that's impressive shit. Now they also fought from it and used the tunnels for transportation. The Viet Cong could pop out of one hole, fire off a 30 round magazine of ammo at American troops and jump down into another tunnel without anyone seeing it. The enemy were like ghosts which made them spooky and I'm sure had a psychological factor to it. The US started to clue in and sent people down there to fight the enemy there. Americans are generally bigger than the Vietnamese, so shorter, skinnier troops had to go.
I can't describe the feeling but I'll try. You're part of an engineering team called the "Tunnel Rats". Depending on what unit you're in, you'll have yourself and two others max in the tunnel, and a few people on top to support you. You toss in a smoke grenade to locate any other tunnel enterances and have troops guard them. Then you toss in a grenade or two trying to kill anyone waiting for you to jump in, or destroy any boobie traps. You look in, and there's nothing. Just a big black hole which is scary enough. You know there's people in there and they want to kill you. You also know if you don't meet anyone, there are traps from bamboo stick traps you can fall in, explosives attached to wires, bear traps, land mines and a few other surprises. On top of that there are cobra snakes tied to the ceiling, boxes of ants and scorpions rigged to fly on you, there's spiders (that's the one that scares me!) and rats and bats. Remember it's hot outside, so animals come into the tunnel to cool down. Did I mention the people waiting for you to come in? Their armed with grenades, bamboo sticks with knives attached, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine guns. The smoke settles, you get a tap on the shoulder and you step into the black abyss knowing what's in there. I honestly think that this is the scariest and bravest for a person to step into, volunteer and fight in. Sure in a Long Range Recon Patrol team it can be 6 vs. a few hundred, but you have a couple thousand tons of steel to drop from the sky and if you can make it, a helicopter to send you home. Tunnel fighting is upclose and personal. It's just you vs. fucking anything haha. Any external support is one or two guys behind you to drag the rope around your waist after an explosion makes the walls cave in, or when you can't respond because a bamboo viper bit you twice in the neck. Other than that, there's a few hundred feet of tunnel to reletave safety, which is a handful of guys with guns. If they are spotted their only support is far away and their best option is to jump in the tunnel with you.
It's personal too because I always though that if I was in the American War in Vietnam I would be one of these guys, and I know how I react to spiders but will see how I do tomorrow cuz I'm going back in! This time will be a bit different and i'll get into that in a bit. So yea, booked the tour, dropped off my painting at home and headed for the market.
Yesterday I found two shirts I liked. Both are Saigon life shirts. One is a line up of motos at a red light and it just says "Saigon Traffic". The other is a hydro pole and phone line and says "Saigon Telecommunications" What's funny is that it looks like a fucking bird nest of wires hahahaha. At home we have one pole, and maybe six max lines on each pole. In Vietnam or at least in Saigon they have around 50 lines and it's a fucking mess hahaha. I got a kick out of both shirts. Today the vendors were helpful because I knew what I wanted and that they sold it or something like it. The shirts I saw yesterday were 80,000VND/$4 CDN. Now, it's funny I know, but 100,000VND is a lot to Vietnamese standards. Some people here make that a week, and at a cheap restaurant that's my dinner. It's just funny when you see how much it is Canadian. I've dropped $4 CDN plenty of times on worthless shit so 80,000VND is a deal. Knowing what else I could get with it in Vietnam gives it's worth. I found one of the shirts I wanted and asked if they had it in another colour. These people are connected so they told me to wait and one of the girls darted away, came back 5 mins later with her arms full of every Saigon Traffic shirt made in every colour haha and I picked one. After getting something you like, first question should always be "How much?" This girl was going to cut me a deal. She was going to let me have it for a one time low payment fee of... 480,000VND/$25CDN. RIP OFF! As soon as she told me that I immediately told her about the booth with it for 80,000VND, she countered at 400,000 haha. I started walking and the price dropped to 200,000, kept walking and it went down to 100,000. I turned around and came back. "The only way I'm opening my wallet is if you say 80,000VND". Our eyes locked, her's not wanting to say it, my eyes wide but ready to leave at a second's notice. "80,000VND". Deal or at least in Vietnam "Okay, I do" haha. Fuck that 80,000VND was such a deal now haha. I doubt I've ever had, or ever will have 400,000 knocked off a price haha. More than 75% of the price. That fucking rocks, but there's a lesson. This means that at that shop, prices are listed more than 75% of the actual product's worth!!!
I got my shirts and I'm happy. I meant to drop by to see Tran (Zippo guy) because I can ship all the zippos I bought if they have cases. I wanted to see if he had any cases I could buy from him. He said he could give me one or two and asked how many I needed. I think I needed about 15 hahaha. Then he did what he always does when he needs something done outside of his booth. He calls his little sister haha. She came a few minutes later with boxes of just zippo cases. We chatted for a bit as he put the cases back together and just shot the shit for a bit. By now it was pissing rain so we chatted some more. This morning my computer was telling me it's daylights savings time and to set my clocks back. I did. I asked Tran what time it was, unsure of my watch and it was 4:30pm, all shops closing at 5pm. I fixed my watch and asked him how much I owed him haha. He wanted half a million 500,000VND/$26CDN. I bit my tounge, I know he's a good guy and has a family to support. It was too much but I had to run across town before 5pm. I grinned and opened my wallet and paid him haha.
Now I had to jump in the pissing rain. I had my umbrella and thanks to the Vung Tau tour I booked of the Aussie AO, I had a "free" rain poncho. When I say poncho in this case, I'm talking about a head to knee "coat" that's plastic was thinner and weaker than your average grocery bag haha. Putting it on I tore it a little, but I had the umbrella too haha. I booked it to Yershin street as I needed to hit Cho Dan Sinh, the military market. Tomorrow I'm hitting a tunnel full of creepy crawlies and possibly doing some digging I needed a shovel, but not just any, preferably a M1967 Entrenching Tool as its handle folds up to be nice and compact. I made it to the market and the flooding in this area was worse, thank god for my sandles. I made it in and most places were already closed at 4:30pm. I hit one shop i bought from and asked for a shovel. He wanted 500,000VND/$26 for one, but at least it was American War era. I passed and hit my usual place I've bought from. She had one and wanted 550,000VND for a shitty one or 700,000VND for a nice one. Highway robbery with no time to barter!!! Shit! I told her about the first shop I hit and the price came down a bit to the good one being 550,000VND. I told her he has it for 500,000VND and kept walking. I was just about to turn the corner and I heard 500,000VND. I turned around, opened my wallet and paid, still not wanting to pay that much, but last notice and all I forked the money over. I let them know I'm off but before I go home I'd drop by again. In the 15 minutes I was in there the road was flooded. Saigon has to improve its streets and sewers as every 500m there's a storm drain where in Canada it's about 50m haha. I tried to find the best way to avoid the pools of water and tried not to think what else was in this water, worst case being poo and I had to lie to myself and keep going. On my way home I found a Lottera restaurant, which is Vietnam's version for Burger King and chowed down. The one t-shirt I bought cost the same as the combo I was eating, about $4. I got a great deal today but in the end it was negated, giving that much to Tran for empty zippo cases for the one saved shirt and the savings from the other went to an E-tool I plan to use once or twice. Either way, there's a lot of places in Saigon to take your money haha. I made it home and dryer than yesterday. I got my e-tool and my flashlight tomorrow and I plan to kill anything i encounter that's not a human being, unless they force me to. I'll take my time and have some fun in the tunnels as how often will I be here? Take it nice and slow, carefully feels for trip wires, scan the top and sides of the tunnel and move a few feet forward to do it over again.
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And this is where the power goes out. mother nature (yea I know I didn't put you in capitals, there's a reason for that...) won't silence my freedom of speech! (Don't worry, she gets me back later)
Haven't used my jounral in a while. I've used the laptop but it's midnight and the power is out. This means I can't go to sleep yet as my laptop is my alarm clock and without power its two hour battery will die and I won't wake up in time tomorrow. (bought an alarm clock tonight though!). If the power ever comes back on I'm waking up at 6-7am and going to Tay Ninh and Cu Chi. There's some issues though. Tonight I was sick (sparing you guys details) and the only thing I can trace it to is Lottera Fast Food. The burgers are good but the meat is too soft. First burger I had and bit into I thought "uncooked?" Now I'll steer clear of it and hit up KFC for the time being. I took meds before leaving Canada to combat this and local drinking water, ice cubes and all that stuff that can make you sick but if it was that bad with the meds, without the meds I'd be lucky if I had any bones left!
So bored waiting but can't sleep until power is on. My boots are still soaked from yesterday and I need them tomorrow in the tunnel instead of friggen bare feet with fireants and spiders. Speaking of feet mine are killing me thanks to my new sandles. The straps dig into my feet and rub the skin raw. Not much I can do but suck it up (and tomorrow, before going to the delta I'll commit a sin related to this). I love dogs and miss my dog at home, but there's one out my window and it always barks. I want to scream at it but afraid the owners will hurt it or worse, eat it, grind it up and serve it with an order of pho. Dogs are popular pets here though. Things I keep forgetting to write down are...
The people here use cellphones and computers but still sweep the streets with a straw and bamboo broom. Also everyone drives a Honda motobike but all the cars here are Toyota. Toyota is 75% of the cars here and the 25% rest are Ford, Chevy, Daewoo or Hyundai. I've also seen some others like a 1965 Ford Mustang, Mercedes Benz, today I saw a UAZ which was the North Vietnamese Army jeep and I've seen 3 Ford M151 Mutt jeeps which were used by the US. 1 was turn into a fire cheif vehicles and two were used by the military/police force and an M1953 Willys jeep parked in someone's driveway today.
I hope the electrical people didn't just say "fuck it, we'll do it tomorrow!" Worst case scenario I lose $9US haha Some places have power like Circle K shop, a few bars and hotels but I assume they're on generators. Every so often though I try the lightswitch secretly hoping but nothing so far. In the last four hours I've almost drank 2L of fluids. I was bored so instead of sitting in the dark I hit the convience store and I tested out drinks that looked good haha. I've had 1L of water, 660mL of "Sting" (Lime and sport drink, turns out their cherry drink is the best) and 300mL of nescafe expresso. The first sip was blah, but then you can feel your senses transform and they become more sensitive. I honestly feel like I could chase speedy gonzolas after downing a can muhahaha. Some girl keeps moaning in her sleep and everyone can hear it hahaha. I'm getting tired and hopefully the power does come back on and wakes me up. I have all the lights, fans and air conditioning ready for when it does....
Turns out the power did come back on in time, but at like 6am haha. I accepted Sean's money he sent me (just need Kirshin's now) and set my computer alarm. Alright, this blog done, time for the new one...
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